Getting the attention of consumers today is very difficult. The consumers are bombarded by advertising and media throughout the day, and the only way that a brand is able to break through the noise and really reach those consumers is to step outside of the box. This is why so many brands today are really falling in love with experiential marketing. This type of marketing is hugely beneficial for a host of reasons. It is memorable and immersive. It’s live and in-person, so people don’t only have to experience something through a screen.
Experiential marketing can help you to deliver your message clearly and to the right people. However, it’s not always that simple because so many companies do not truly understand how to do it correctly. The strategy still lacks a standard definition, so it can still be confusing when you are new to it. To help you get a better understanding of what experiential marketing is and what it can do, you can check out the examples below.
Piano Stairs by Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a large brand that’s known for being a car company, so you might wonder just what piano stairs have to do with them. In fact, you might just be wondering what piano stairs are in the first place. Volkswagen has often tried to extend their brand and often with good results. One of the ways that they do this is by engaging in what is known as the fun theory. They create marketing that tries to make people change their behavior in some way through the addition of something fun, and that’s essentially how the piano stairs came into existence.
Volkswagen created a set of these stairs next to an escalator at a German subway stop. They found that many of the people who came into the subway chose to use the stairs, which allowed them to play music as they walked on them. Ultimately, 66% more people ended up using the stairs when compared to the escalator. Volkswagen was able to associate its brand with being fun.
Escape Rooms from HBO
Over the past several years, the popularity of escape rooms has risen. People are locked in a room and provided clues to help them get out, so HBO wanted to capitalize on this idea. They choose to create an experience at SXSW in 2017, which combined three rooms to create a larger mystery to solve. They geared the rooms toward three of their popular shows, including Veep, Silicon Valley, and Game of Thrones. This was a very on-brand experience that helped to give the attendees an experience akin to being in the shows.
Smirnoff and Comic Books
Comic books and comic book movies are extremely popular, and Smirnoff decided to take advantage of this with one of their experiential marketing events. The company created a themed industry party that was centered around comic books. The design of the venue was based around comics, and even the brand ambassadors and bartenders were dressed up as comic characters. The company was able to create a very memorable experience for all who attended, and even though most people don’t connect Smirnoff and comics, it helped to showcase their brand and provide fun for those who attended.
Connecting with the Nostalgia of Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls was a very popular show that debuted in 2000 and range for seven seasons. It stared the likes of Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, and Jared Padalecki before he went on to star in Supernatural. The show was beloved by fans, and when Netflix announced that they would be coming back for a limited season in 2016, many were excited. However, Netflix wanted to do something more to help fire up the nostalgia.
They decided that they would recreate 200 replicas of Luke’s Diner across the United States. This was one of the main sets of the show, and visitors could go and get a coffee with a special coffee sleeve on it. Similar to what HBO did later, they created an experience for the visitors who loved the show. They stoked the fires of nostalgia with these pop-up dinners, which became a very memorable experience for all of the fans who were able to visit.
Your ROI with FastSensor
You may have noticed that the examples given tend to be very expensive, and they did not always have anything to do directly with the brand’s main focus. After all, most people don’t think about pianos and Volkswagen being connected. While it might have gotten some publicity for their brand, did it really provide them with the return on investment that they wanted and needed?
Whenever you are coming up with experiential marketing ideas for your company, you have to think about the bottom line. How much are you going to be investing, and will the ROI be worth it?
If you love the idea of experiential marketing, and you want to take advantage of the benefits that it can provide, you need to be smart about developing them. You also need to make sure that you understand how to track the results to ensure that your ROI will be worth the cost and effort.
FastSensor can help you in this area
FastSensor is able to pick up on the nonpersonal signals that are sent from customer devices, all while keeping their identity and privacy safe. We have the capability to measure how customers are flowing into and through the event or experience, as well as how long they stay and how often they return. Data is collected on the cloud from all locations, which can then provide you with a unified view in near real-time.
This information and data will provide you with some great information. You will be able to learn what has gone right with the experiential marketing strategy and areas where you can improve on your next outing or campaign. You can learn more about the actions of the consumers, and it can even help you to generate more leads.